vayasseur



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. VAVASSEUR.

- MOUNTING FOR ORDNANGE. No; 397,764. Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No M0de1.)

J. VAVASSEUR. VMOUNTING FOR ORDNANGE. v No. 397,764. Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

U El db (No Model.) v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. VAVASSEUR.

MOUNTING FOR ORDNANGE Patented Feb. 12 1889' wwm+wg m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, OF LONDON ORDNANCE \VORKS, BEAR LANE, SOUTH- WARK, COUNTY OF SURREY, ASSIGNOR TO \V. G. ARMSTRONG, MITFHELL I & .C O., (LIMITED) OF NEW'CASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND.

MOUNTING FOR ORDANANQEQ SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,764, dated February 12, 1889. A

. Application filed October 8. 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAH VA'VASSEUR, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Brit ain, residing atthe London Ordnance \Vorks, Bear Lane, Southwark, in the county of Surrey, England, have invented an Improved Mounting for Rapid-Firing Guns, of which the following is a specification.-

' This invention has for its obj cctan improved IO mounting for rapid-firing guns.

.This, mounting is intended as a broadside mounting for use between decks on shipboard, and also in forts. It consists of a shield formed of an armor-plate bent to a semi-oylindrical form. To this shield are bolted crossbars, one at the top and an other at the bottom.

A port is cut through the armor-plate sufii- 'ciently large to admit the barrel of the gun and allow the necessary elevation and depression,

and also to allow of aiming. Within this semi-cylindrical shield bearings are fixed, one

on either side, and in these are carried the trunnions of a cradle, in which the gun can slide in recoil under the control of hydraulic 2 5 apparatus and springs,- which letter, when the recoil is expended, bring the gun back to the firing position. The bottom pivot is globular,

and it isreceived into a corresponding cup.

The gun, together with the shield, can be 0 trained either by means ofa shoulder-piece fixed to the gun or by gearing. There is aworm-wheel free to turn upon the exterior of the lower cup-like bearing, and with this wheel a worm gears The worm can be turned by 3 5 means of a hand-wheel and intermediate axisf lVhen it is desired to make use of the mechanical training-gear, the. worm-wheel is locked fast upon the cup-bearing, and this is done by means of clutch and friction plates, 40 which are pressed together by a ring screwing on the exterior of the hearing. The upper pivot of the shield is cylindrical and is received into a brass of globular form held 'in a bracket fixed overhead, so that the brass is able to adjust itself in the bearingif from the straining of the ship or any other cause the bracket should be displaced from its original alignment.

In order that my said invention may be Serial No. 287,637. (No model.)

f the gun is shown as mounted on shipboard.

Fig. 5 shows in elevation the doors by which the broadside-port can be closcdwben the gun is withdrawn. I 'A' A is the semi-circular shield of a bent armor-plate.

B is the top cross-bar fixed to it and carrying the upper pivot, B.

C is the lower cross-bar carrying the bottom pivot, C.

D is the opening in the shield, through which the gun E projects.

F F are bearings fixed within the shield A, and in these bearings the trunnious G G of the cradle G are carried.

H is the recoil-cylinder. It forius part of the cradle and is beneath the gun. It contains the hydraulic apparatus and springs, by which the recoil is checked and the gun returned to the firin g position. This recoil apparatus is of the ordinary description and is not shown in detail. I. The mechanism for closing the breech of the gun also forms no part of the present invention and is not shown in detail. 1

I is an arm projecting from the shield A and carrying the axis K, on which is a pinion gearing with a rack, L, attached to the cradle. This axis is turned by means of a hand-wheel, M, and intermediate gear, and gives to the gun the necessary elevation and depression in aiming.

N is an inclined axis with a hand-wheeLN', upon it. It serves for training the gun. At its lower end the axis N is connected by a joint with the worm O, which turns in bearings upon the shield A. The worm gears with a worm-wheel, P, which is able to turn' freely upon the exterior of the cup-formed bearing Q. This hearing, as will be seen, receives the globular pivot 0, carried by the cross-bar C,

and it is itself suitably supported from the deck of the ship.

R is a ring screwing upon the exterior of the bearing Q. It has holes R in its periphery to receive a bar which is used in turning it. I

S S S are disks which are squeezed together when the ring R is screwed down upon the bearing. Some of these rings are made to engage with the hearing, so that they can not turn around it, while the other alternate rings are engaged in a similar way with the wormwheel and cannot turn independently of it. Thuswhen the ring is screwed down the wormwheel is made fast with the pivot, but when it is unscrewed (so as to relieve the pressure) the worm-wheel can turn on the pivot and then the gun can be trained quite independently of the training-gear a ove described, andmerely by thrusting the breech end to one side or the other, as required, by means of a shoulder-piece, which may be provided.

B is the upper cylindrical pivot on the cross-bar B.

T is the globular brass, into which it is received, and this is held in a corresponding bearing, U, firmly attached to the ships side, as the drawings indicate.

V V are the doors to close the port-hole. To admit of this being done, the gun is unshipped by means of gear provided for the purpose, but which forms no part of the in: vention to be secured by the present patent, and so is not indicated in these drawings.

I claim- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the semi-cylindrical armor plate or shield, the top and bottom cross-pieces secured thereto, the vertical pivots connected to said cross-pieces, the gun, the cradle in which it is mounted, and the horizontal pivots or trunnions of the gun sup ported in bearings in the armor plate or shield.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the semi-cylindrical armor plate or shieldopen at the rear, the

gun, its cradle, the recoil-cylinder, carried by which it is mounted, the horizontal pivots-or 1 trunnions of the gun supported in hearings in the armor plate or shield, the gear for raising and lowering the gun and cradle and re i coil-cylinder together, and the training-gear engaging with. the armor plate or shield for 1 Both of 17 GmcechurchStreet, London, E. C.-

' training or moving the shield on its vertical pivots.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR.

Witnesses:

GEo. J.'B. FRANKLIN, PERCY K. WooDWARD, 

